Ohio State coach Urban Meyer faced questions Tuesday morning regarding his handling of Zach Smith, the receivers coach he fired amid revelations of repeated domestic violence allegations.
Meyer cut ties with Smith on Monday, three days after Smith’s ex-wife filed a domestic violence protection order against the then-Buckeyes assistant.
Meyer acknowledged that he knew of an initial incident in 2009. Then a graduate assistant at Florida under Meyer, Smith was arrested and charged with felony assault following an altercation with his then-pregnant wife. She declined to file charges.
Meyer said Tuesday that he informed his “boss” at Florida and “let the experts do their jobs.”
Meyer said both he and wife Shelley got involved, and that they recommended counseling.
Smith played for Meyer at Bowling Green, and he is a grandson of former Buckeyes coach Earle Bruce. Bruce and Meyer had a father-son relationship before Bruce passed away in April.
In 2015, police responded to a call at the Smith residence regarding another allegation of domestic violence. Meyer said on Tuesday that “what was reported didn’t actually happen.”
After the latest allegation, stemming from an incident in which Smith pled not guilty to a charge of criminal trespassing, Meyer cut ties with him.
“You have to make decisions that are for the best for the program,” Meyer said. “I did.”
Meyer might face criticism after acknowledging that part of the reason he fired Smith was that the allegations became public recently amid media reports.
Meyer did not make any overarching statements Tuesday regarding his views or intolerance of domestic violence. Instead he spoke of core values.
“When I was 6 years old, I was sat down by my father to talk about core values,” he said. “Mistakes are correctable, but core values are who you are. I thought: What the heck is he talking about? I’m 54 years old and I still teach my family the same thing.”
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